Emil wrote:

Hi group,

Out of curiosity...How did everybody start with their hobby, more like a
passion :-) of roses?

What a neat idea for a thread, Emil. Thanks. A really wonderful friend of
mine planned my wedding, and her gift to me (besides that) was the
flowers. All of this was wonderful because I wanted a special day (we had
all had a lot of sadness that year) for our families, but I am not good at
girly stuff like that. When she asked me what I wanted for a bouquet and
arrangements, I looked in magazines and chose photos of sorbet colored,
full blown, gorgeous roses, with herbs and other greenery. She did this so
well--forced the blooms, etc.--I thought I had never seen flowers so
gorgeous. It was a great day. So when we bought the house, I decided to
try to grow what I thought was most beautiful. And--for my friend, I
wanted to find a great purple rose, as they are her favorite. This is why
I chose Lagerfeld as my first rose--not purple but the closest to it at
the garden center.